Results for "Vocalist"

Thornetta Davis

Crowned “Detroit’s Queen of the Blues” in 2015, Thornetta Davis a multi-talented International Singer and Songwriter from Detroit MI, USA is the Winner of over 30 Detroit Music Awards, including sweeping the 2017 and 2018 DMA’S. Thornetta has been exciting and wowing audiences all over the world. Her voice is strong, commanding, melodic and smooth. She tells her stories with incredible delivery and leaves her audiences wanting more. Backed by her great band of Detroit Musicians. She first gained attention in 1987 when she became back up singer for the Detroit soul band “Lamont Zodiac and The Love Signs”

Dee Daniels

Dee Daniels is an accomplished vocalist and musician's musician who passionately delivers timeless performances in multiple genres that include: jazz, blues, gospel, and her original compositions. Her newest CD, The Promise, has garnered awards in multiple categories from the Global Music Awards, and Spiritual Artist of the Year from the Western Canada Music Awards. A sultry songsmith and master of storytelling, she has performed for royalty and international dignitaries on multiple occasions and has an extensive list of performances with combos and big bands. Her international career includes performances across Europe, the United Kingdom, Russia, Australia, South America, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Egypt, twelve African countries, and throughout North America. She crossed the threshold of the classical world with the creation of her spellbinding Symphony Pops programs, “Great Ladies of Swing”, “The Great American Swing Book”, "A Night Out With The Boys", ” The Soul of Ray: The Music of Ray Charles”, and "Red, Hot, and Blues"

Vic Damone

Born: June 12, 1928

Vic Damone was an American traditional pop and big band singer, actor, radio and television presenter, and entertainer. He is best known for his performances of songs such as the number one hit "You're Breaking My Heart", and "On the Street Where You Live" (from My Fair Lady) and "My Heart Cries for You" which were both number four hits. Damone was born Vito Rocco Farinola in Brooklyn, New York, to Rocco and Mamie (Damone) Farinola, Italian emigrants from Bari, Italy. His father was an electrician and his mother taught piano. His cousin was the actress and singer Doretta Morrow. Inspired by his favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, Damone began taking voice lessons

Barbara Dane

Born: May 12, 1927

"Bessie Smith in Stereo" said jazz critic Leonard Feather in Playboy magazine when Barbara Dane burst onto the scene in the late '50s. Time magazine said of her: "The voice is pure, rich...rare as a 20 karat diamond." To Ebony magazine, she seemed "startlingly blonde, especially when that powerful dusky alto voice begins to moan of trouble, two-timing men and freedom... with stubborn determination, enthusiasm and a basic love for the underdog (she is) making a name for herself...aided and abetted by some of the oldest names in jazz who helped give birth to the blues..." The seven-page Ebony article—their first feature story about a white woman (Nov., l959)— was filled with photos of Dane working with Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Clara Ward, Mama Yancey, Little Brother Montgomery and others.

Meredith d'Ambrosio

Born: March 20, 1941

Boston born Meredith d'Ambrosio, a renaissance woman of international critical acclaim, has successfully combined careers in the musical and visual arts. Her musical sojourn began in 1958 in Boston singing with small bands with Roger Kellaway on piano. Although she worked primarily as a jazz singer-pianist she is also known as a respected calligrapher, watercolorist, creator of eggshell mosaics, composer, lyricist, recording artist and teacher. She branched out into NYC in 1981, and since that time has been touring extensively throughout North America and Europe performing with such musicians as Harold Danko, Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg, Fred Hersch, Eddie Higgins, Dick Hyman, Hank Jones, Lee Musiker, Mike Renzi, Richard Wyands, Milt Hinton, Major Holley, Jay Leonhart, Michael Moore, George Mraz, Rufus Reid, Leroy Vinnegar, Buddy DeFranco, Harry Allen, Lee Konitz, Ken Peplowski, Phil Woods, Jack Sheldon, Don Sickler, Al Grey, Johnny Frigo, Gene Bertoncini, Kevin Eubanks, Joe Ascione, Terry Clarke, Keither Copeland, Jake Hanna, Butch Miles and Ben Riley to name a few. Meredith d'Ambrosio continues to delight those who have come to expect a high degree of proficiency in her artistic offerings and has shown herself to be, if not an iconoclast, one who is comfortable enough with her own sense of self to challenge the mainstream concept of popularity without sacrificing considerable talents and originality. "To listen to d'Ambrosio is to abandon oneself to her charm

Bing Crosby

Born: May 3, 1903

Bing Crosby was the fourth of seven children of Tacoma, Washington, brewery bookkeeper Harry Lowe Crosby and Kate Harrigan Crosby. He studied law at Gonzaga University in Spokane but was more interested in playing the drums and singing with a local band. Bing and the band's piano player, Al Rinker, left Spokane for Los Angeles in 1925. In the early 1930s Bing's brother Everett sent a record of Bing singing "I Surrender, Dear" to the president of CBS. His live performances from New York were carried over the national radio network for 20 consecutive weeks in 1932. His radio success led Paramount Pictures to include him in The Big Broadcast (1932), a film featuring radio favorites

Randy Crawford

Born: March 18, 1952

Randy Crawford seemingly burst upon the scene singing “Street Life” when The Crusaders invited her to sing the eleven minute title song on their 1979 album “Street Life,” which remained #1 on the American jazz charts for twenty weeks. She recently in 2006 reunited with former Crusader keyboardist Joe Sample for “Feelin’ Good,” which was again a especially popular album. Veronika Crawford was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1952, and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. As a child, she sang in school and church choirs. At the age of 15, she began to sing in clubs, accompanied by her father

Ida Cox

Born: March 25, 1896

Born Ida Prather in Toccoa, Georgia, she left home at fourteen to tour with a minstrel revue. Cox excelled at vaudeville singing, but when the popularity of vaudeville shows began to fade, she transformed herself into a formidable blues singer and worked the Southern tent show and vaudeville circuit. She spent some time with pianist Jelly Roll Morton before signing a recording contract with Paramount in 1923. In 1923 she made her first blues recordings, "Graveyard Dream Blues" and "Weary Way Blues," for the Paramount label. She met with immediate success and went on to record seventy-eight songs between 1923 and 1929, including "Cemetery Blues," "Handy Man," and her best-known song, "Wild Women Don't Have the Blues." Cox wrote most of the songs that she recorded. Many of the seventy- eight songs Cox recorded for the label through 1929, and with other labels like Broadway and Silvertone (using pseudonyms such as Kate Lewis, Velma Bradley, Julia Powers, and Jane Smith) dealt with themes aimed at female audiences

Shemekia Copeland

Born: 1979

Shemekia Copeland - Blues Singer When singing sensation Shemekia Copeland first appeared on the scene in 1997 with her groundbreaking debut CD, “Turn The Heat Up,” she quickly became, at 18 years old, a roots music superstar. Critics from around the country celebrated Shemekia's music as fans of all ages agreed that an unstoppable new talent had arrived. Shemekia released two more CDs: 2000's Grammy nominated “Wicked,” and 2002's Talking To Strangers,” (produced by Dr. John), and in that short period of time, collected five Blues Music Awards, a Grammy nomination, five Living Blues Awards, and was honored with the coveted "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" Award by the DownBeat Critics' Poll

Sam Cooke

Born: January 22, 1931

After years as the reigning voice in gospel music, Sam Cooke burst onto the pop scene with the 1957 release of his million-selling single, “You Send Me.” The song's innovative blend of Gospel, Pop, and R&B earned him the title of "The Man Who Invented Soul.” In addition to being an accomplished singer, songwriter and producer, Sam Cooke is remembered as the first artist to take a political stand and refuse to sing to segregated audiences. He also recognized the politics of the music industry early in life. At a time when record labels often left even the most talented and successful artist broke and penniless, Sam Cooke was one of the first artists, black or white, to buck the system and demand ownership of his career